Community is at the heart of early childhood education. We rely on our classroom community to connect with one other, to create positive learning environments, to enrich programming, to build and foster strong relationships, and to deepen our understanding of identity and cultural knowledge. By building community in our Kindergarten, students take risks and persevere when faced with a challenge.
Continue reading A Kindergarten Classroom in a Global Pandemic?
I have to admit right up front that following my objective in this project did not take the path I anticipated. I think early on I viewed it as a personal research and growth project being undertaken to continue to grow a more robust knowledge of artists and art history.
Continue reading Side paths and future routes of exploration
The following are a set of questions and initial reflections that are framing my self-study inquiry. While these questions and reflections have an initial orientation towards students and subject matter, I think that they also have significant implications for my own practice as a teacher. Continue reading What Do I Value?
The 2020-21 school year has been like no other for all faculty, students, staff, and administrators across the country. Continue reading Facilitating Early Childhood Collaborative Play Under COVID-19
My self-study has gone through a bit of an iterative process.
Continue reading Curriculum as Windows and Mirrors
When I started my second attempt at the self-study my initial idea was that I would focus on making sure I didn’t become a “dinosaur”. A dinosaur in this context meant faculty member and teacher who was wed to the way he/she has always done things. I was going to re-examine my habits as a teacher and a learner. Continue reading Self-Study During the Pandemic
Essential Questions:
Continue reading The Problems of Unexamined Normative Assumptions
In September, I decided that I was fully going to commit to having my students keep a year long portfolio. Continue reading Modeling the Work
Through this project, I wanted to explore how to make my assignments (homework and in the classroom) even more interactive and centered around listening comprehension and speaking in the target language in order to engage the students, reduce their anxiety (since it will not require a final product) and actually incorporate some mindfulness exercises. Continue reading Towards Interaction and Comprehension
My Self-Study plan and goals were firmly entrenched in pushing myself to find the time, strength, intellectual curiosity and courage to produce – in my initial post I bolded and all-capsed for emphasis – A LOT of work. The plan was to work fearlessly and without concern for quality. Not only would I produce a bunch of work, but I would also share the results. The work would be without a specific purpose other than “art for art’s sake”. Finally, I swore to experiment with oil paint – a medium all around me that I have barely ever used.
Continue reading Art for Art’s Sake & The Work of Obligation
The goal of my self study is to refocus my creative practice by completing work on two screenplay rewrites and to start production on a personal documentary film. While the rewrites have been going well, I won’t be able to do any work on the documentary due to unforeseen travel restrictions.
As I continue to work on my tenure self-study project, I reflect on my journey so far and think about where I’m headed. Continue reading Play as a Point of Entry for Learning
In our last retreat session on 2/10/20, I worked with the help of my colleagues to identify an emerging guiding question or focus of inquiry to continue with my self-study. I reflected on what has been most successful and most challenging so far, what has been helpful in overcoming challenges, and the obstacles with which I’ve been confronted. Continue reading Finding Balance
Essential Questions:
How do I get better at using literature to center conversations around racism and whiteness in middle school humanities?
Continue reading Literature as Catalyst: Discussing racism and whiteness in middle school
Essential Questions:
